Unmentioned changes in Windows 10 Build 14986

After a week with no build for Windows Insiders on PCs, Microsoft recently released Build 14986 to the Fast ring, which contains a lot of new features and improvements. To find out more about the officially announced features (updated Defender UI, Cortana updates and many others), you can click here to read the official changelog.

Like with most builds, there’s some more stuff which they didn’t mention. Let us show you what that is.

Update: System Reset Changes

Another change that can be found in this build is a new system reset type. Currently, when you choose to reset your PC, you can choose between removing everything or reinstalling Windows while preserving your personal files. Starting with this build, a new third option is now available.

We do not recommend you try this out on your workstation because it might contain bugs. It’s highly suspected that Microsoft has their reasons for not showing this option in the “Reset my PC” selection for now.

To take a look at it, press Win + R and enter systemreset -cleanpc

Below you can find a few screenshots of this new feature.

High DPI Scaling

This build includes some nice improvements to DPI scaling. Tools like MMC (Computer Management, Disk Management etc) and the Device Manager now finally scale properly on high DPI screens. This is a great improvement!

Settings

The settings app picked up some visual improvements in this weeks build.

Each section now shows its title at the top. Additionally, some switches were changed to checkboxes.

Data Usage

The Data Usage page got a slight redesign. In the past there was a circular diagram showing usage stats. This looks a bit more clean in my opinion.

Storage

The Storage page got revamped as well.

Cloud Printers

This build includes the ability to search for Cloud Printers in Devices\Printers & scanners.

Clicking the link brings up the following UI:

New Share UI

In late November, a person named kw259 found a way to enable an improved Share UI.
This feature got updated in this build, now properly shows icons. It’s still disabled by default, so if you want to know how to enable it, click here to find out.

Device Portal

The Device Portal was updated to include two new sections.

3D View:

Simulation:

System Apps

There are some changes to the system apps as well, and even some new ones.

View 3D Preview

This is the most obvious new system app, because it shows up in your start menu. It allows you to open Windows Holographic materials and see what they look like. It also features the ability to rotate the model you’re currently previewing.

Windows Holographic

Windows Holographic First Run was renamed to Windows Holographic. The app stays the same.
Previously, when you went through the developer setup you would end up at a screen telling you that the required Feature On Demand (FOD) failed to install. Starting with this build, this should no longer fail and you’ll end up here.

Desktop View

This application now shows a notice that you should launch in in “Holographic space”.

The name suggests that this app will be used to show the user’s desktop on a Windows Holographic device (e.g. Microsoft’s HoloLens).

Network Connection Flow

This app looks like it will be used in OOBE in the future. It prompts you to connect to WiFi. Pressing Next does nothing.

Contact Support

The Contact Support app was renamed to Get Help.

Microsoft Edge

Microsoft Edge gained a few new Fetch Networking related flags. You can see a comparison between 14971 (left) and 14986 (right) below.

Holo Camera

The Holo Camera app was removed.

System Files

We also took a look at some of the changes to the system files.

Notable changes:

Changes in C:\Windows\Boot\EFI

Boot Environment Storage Spaces Library (bootspaces.dll) was added.

updaterevokesipolicy.p7b was added.

TreeViewControl.dll was added in C:\Windows\ImmersiveControlPanel.

This likely indicates that the Settings app will soon support Tree Views.